Adjustable rear link installation

["M. P. Olans <mpolans@xxxx>" <mpolans@xxxx>]

Ok, I finally got around to installing my adjustable rear links....:)
Clarification-I only assisted, EvilDan did the work. He came out
from NJ last week to help out with some cars here and agreed to do my
links since he had done this on his car. The PO had lowered the car
by taking Houston's lowered springs and cutting a coil off. For those
of you who have seen my car you know that you can't even get a finger
between the front tire and fender. The rear would fit one finger but
the bottom of the tire was out quite a bit farther than the top giving
it a "spread leg" stance. Ok, so here's a good learning opportunity
for me....castor or camber? Which is which and what's negative and
positive? I have been fortunate that you really could not see the
uneven wear on the tire, but a tread-depth indicator does reveal that
it was beginning.
Surprisingly the installation was smooth. We jacked up the car
and removed the wheels. The front wheels were chocked fore with
aircraft grade chocks and standard auto parts store chocks in the
rear. We then lowered it onto blocks. First we loosened both link
bolts. Then the one for the shock was removed. Interestingly enough
the shock assembly only came down a few millimeters. We had a second
floorjack ready to jack the spring back up for installation but we
never needed it. Yep, I know this is dangerous and a spring
compressor should be used, but like I said in the beginning, I was
only assisting. EvilDan was doing the major stuff.
We matched up the adjustable links with the solid ones and then
shortened the adjustables by about 1/4 of an inch. Well, we eyeballed
it but I don't think it could have been more than half an inch. 
Installation was pretty easy as we just kind of slipped everything
back together and tapped things into place. The wheels went back on
and we torqued them to spec. The we rolled the car back and forth a
bit to make sure everything was seated correctly.
EvilDan eyeballed the alignment to get it close and then snugged
everything up to spec. I am really glad I invested in a good torque
wrench. Once everything settles I am going to have a 4-wheel
alignment done, but the difference is striking. I think right now the
wheels are 0 degrees or very close. The overall stance of the car has
improved dramatically. It looks better from the rear. You can now
get 2 fingers in between the tire and the quarter panel. 
I took a lot of detailed pictures both before and after. I'm
going to send them to Ron Wester as part of my article on my car so
hopefully the pictures will be in a future issue of Gullwing magazine. 

Adjustable links from Don Steiger- $400 (with core charge)
EvilDan's plane ticket- $250 (America West)
Misc. metric sockets, wrenches, and ratchets- $200 (Craftsman and 
Husky)
2 ton floor jacks and jack stands- $39.95 (what a deal!)
4X4 and 2X4 wood blocks from The Home Depot- $0.59 (EvilDan drives a 
hard bargain!)
A mean rear stance and even tire wear- Priceless


Please contact me with any questions,

Matthew
VINs 10365 and 16816